In the past, cold drink vending machines which dispense cold drink containers upon payment of a fee have been primarily of the type in which exterior advertising for the type of cold drink products dispensable from the vending machine were separately displayed on the exterior of the vending machine. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,709 issued to Brandes, et al., discloses a beverage container-dispensing machine in which the sign panel contains a product identifying logo corresponding to at least one type of the beverage cans to be dispensed. The individual flavor or type of cold drink is indicated on smaller panels associated with dispensing buttons. Examples of these types of dispensers which also include serpentine tracks for storing and dispensing cylindrical articles, such as cold drink cans, include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,347,952 issued to Bookout in 1982, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,750 issued to Ficken in 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,313 issued to Rockola in 1990. The Ficken patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,750 includes a window for viewing articles other than the refrigerated cold drinks. The refrigerated cold drinks are stored within the cabinet in a separately closed refrigerated area. The types of cold drinks to be dispensed are presented on separate display panels associated with the various serpentine tracks.
Bottled beverage vending machines have also been disclosed in which a small window panel is provided by which only the bottle caps can be viewed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,143 issued to Helsing in 1954 has inclined racks on which the bottles are stored, which move the bottles to the bottle cap viewing and dispensing area by the rolling force of gravity.
Refrigerated product vending machines having window panels through which the products can be viewed have also been previously disclosed for products such as apples in U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,371 issued to Smiley, et al. in 1952.
Some of the advantages of a view-through dispensing machine for temperature controlled cylindrical containers were recognized and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,001 issued to Ossanna, Jr. in 1954. However, the cylindrical containers were vertically stacked so that they did not include the advantages of a serpentine track for cold drink can dispensing. Further, when this device was depleted for a particular vertical stack of cylindrical articles it no longer indicated to the potential customer the types of articles which might be obtained when the cabinet was refilled. A precooling storage area was not provided so that a time lag would exist between filling the machine with uncooled product containers and the time at which they could be dispensed at a cool temperature. For these reasons, the temperature controlled vending machine with a glass front as set forth previously was not well suited for cold drink can dispensing.
There are some vending machines, such as cold drink vending machines, in which cylindrically shaped articles and in particular, cold drink containers, bottles, and especially cans are stored in vertical racks or serpentine racks. The articles fall or roll by the force of gravity toward the bottom of the rack. In the past, dispensing one cylindrical article at a time in response to payment and selection actuation, has been accomplished through the use of a rocker arm arrangement having a central trough sized to hold one can, with ears at either end. The arm pivots at the central trough so that either ear can be alternately moved into the path of the cans. In operation, the arm pivots in one direction to allow the column of cold drinks to roll by the force of gravity so that the lowest can in the column is pushed into the trough against the lower ear. The arm then pivots in the other direction to force the upper ear against the weight of the column and to simultaneously allow the lowest cold drink can to fall free into a dispensing area. Upon rocking into the can dispensing position, the upper ear necessarily moves against the entire weight of the column of cold drink cans, thereby holding them upward in place while the trough held can is dispensed. Prior to dispensing the next can, the rocker arm pivots back to its first position allowing the column of cans to drop down, forcing the lowest can into the trough and against the lower ear of the rocker arm. The cycle is repeated to dispense the next can. To facilitate moving the rocker arm against the column, the ears were rounded for insertion between the lowest can and the next can in the vertical column thereabove. This helped make the operation smoother but did not totally eliminate the large amount of power required to move the rocker arm ears against the weight of a full column of cans. These prior mechanisms had to be constructed with sufficient strength to allow repeated operation of the rocker arm from one pivot position to the next while providing sufficient force to move against the entire weight of the column of cans in the track thereabove.
In prior vending machines in which temperature controlled products, such as cold drink containers, were vended, the vending chute through which the cold drinks were dispensed was also a conduit through which cold air escaped, thereby requiring additional energy for maintaining the temperature control storage area. Some cold drink vending machines were constructed with access through the top so that the cold denser air tended to remain within the vending area. Other vending machines provided only small openings through which the cold drinks were dispensed, thereby minimizing the exposure. Sometimes, the areas were provided with a flexible shield which tended to reduce heat exchange by convection, but did little to reduce the heat exchange caused by conduction.
In multiple column cold drink dispensers of the type with a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical columns or tracks of cold drinks, a spring-loaded door was provided across the area through which the cans were dispensed. Sometimes the weight of a single cold drink can was insufficient to actuate the door. The door was intended to be actuated by the weight of a cold drink dispensed thereagainst so that it pivoted to an open position allowing the cold drink to fall into a chute from which it could be retrieved by the consumer. Often, the weight of the door and the tension of the spring was balanced against the force normally applied by a cold drink. When the amount of friction pivoting the door was increased, as by a ruptured can, a broken bottle, or an otherwise spilled cold drink, the force provided by the weight of a can was insufficient to open the door and the machine would become jammed.